Etymology

The term was given wider attention in the 1980s by British writer Simon Dwyer, publisher of the Rapid Eye fanzine.

In the first volume of the Creation Books reedition of Rapid Eye Simon Dwyer mentions how he 'stole' the term occulture from his friend David Brooks[1] who was going to use the name for a bookshop. In that book, Dwyer also explains what occulture means to him:

"Occulture is not a secret culture as the word might suggest, but culture that is in some way hidden and ignored, or willfully marginalised to the extremities of our society. A culture of individuality and sub-cults, a culture of questions that have not been properly identified- let alone answered- and therefore, do not get fair representation in the mainstream media. It is a culture that has been misinterpreted. Not because it is 'evil' or wrong, but because it is generally apolitical and amoral, unashamedly artistic, experimental, undogmatic, intellectual and oddly evolutionary. It is a sub-culture that is forming a question that 'reality' alone cannot answer."[2][3]

Occulture is also the name of a festival dedicated to the occult, where, for example, Colin Wilson spoke in 2001.